Cost of city sewer project increases
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 3, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Ray Woody uses an excavator to remove the soil underground to make room for the new sewer lines on Mulberry Street.
Construction on the sanitary sewer lines of Mulberry Street has just begun, but change orders are already needed.
Keen Plumbing was initially awarded the contract to begin work on Aug. 4 at a cost of just over $300,000.
But with the new change orders being implemented, the total cost would be brought up to around $500,000 -- the change orders call for the replacement of manholes as well as 32 sanitary sewer taps on Mulberry Street.
Keen Plumbing will be awarded extra time to complete the project, with their deadline to finish being Nov. 19, after the change order added 15 extra days to their contract.
Marty Anderson said the change orders will be competed as the company moves along the street.
"They're about halfway down the worst part of it now," Anderson said.
When the issue was presented to the Goldsboro City Council Tuesday night, councilman Chuck Allen was not pleased with the news of the change orders.
"A change order is essentially just you giving them (Keen Plumbing) a way to make more money," Allen said. "I'm a contractor, so I know that. Doing that is good for them, but it's bad for us."
The first change order calls for the replacement of four manholes at the cost of $3,800 each and the replacement of 32 sanitary sewer taps at the cost of $1,980 each. The lump sum of total costs reaches over $78,500.
The second calls for the replacement of 32 water taps at the cost of $1,025 each. The lump sum of costs incurred by this project will be $32,800.
Those projects will add $111,300 to the total cost of the project upon completion. The original cost was $340,010, and the total cost will be brought to over $450,000.